Cool World, a Restaurant That Set Out to be a Brasserie for Brooklyn, Closes After a Year

Cool World, the Greenpoint “brasserie” that opened at 905 Lorimer Street, at Nassau Avenue, one year ago, has closed. The restaurant announced the news in a post on Instagram on Sunday morning: “Our final service will be today.” Julian Brizzi, a partner at the restaurant, said in a statement to Eater that the business “wasn’t financially sustainable” and that the team plans to open a new restaurant at the same address. Over the years, the corner space has been home to several restaurants that did not last, including Sauvage and the vegan Mexican spot Xilonen, which shuttered after a year. “We just couldn’t make it work,” Brizzi said. Amanda Perdomo, the restaurant’s pastry chef, called the space “cursed.”

When Cool World opened last July, Brizzi and partner Noah Bernamoff told Eater the restaurant was inspired by the Odeon and other old-school brasseries. Chef Quang Nguyen, the former sous chef of Wildair on the Lower East Side, led the kitchen with dishes like duck croquettes, fried chicken sandwiches, and a granola wedge salad, with desserts and pastries from Perdomo, another alum of Wildair.

There’s a new bakery from Craft alums

Chrissa Yee and Abby Swain, who previously worked as a dining room manager and pastry chef, respectively, at Tom Colicchio’s Craft restaurant, have opened a spot of their own. A&C Super is a corner store and bakery selling croissants, milk bread loaves, strawberry brioche donuts, and breakfast sandwiches, alongside condiments and other pantry items. The new Williamsburg spot, which opened at the start of July, is located at 292 Leonard Street, at Metropolitan Avenue. Opening hours are 8 a.m. to noon, Thursday through Monday. — Emma Orlow, reporter

Marea pivots to pop-up mode for the summer

Marea has been temporarily closed for renovations since June. Until September, when the Italian restaurant reopens, its chef Lauren DeSteno is popping up at Ai Fiori, a French and Italian spot on the second floor of the Langham Hotel, near Bryant Park. Desteno and Yoshi Nonaka, the chef of Ai Fiori, are serving a menu with dishes from both restaurants, including crudo, wagyu beef steaks, and Marea’s octopus fusilli.

The new restaurant from Dept of Culture opens this week

Dept of Culture, a tasting menu spot in Bed-Stuy that Eater named one of the best restaurants in the country last year, opens its follow-up restauranat this week in Clinton Hill. Radio Kwara, at 291 Greene Avenue, near Classon Avenue, specializes in Nigerian pepper soup — the first course on the opening menu at Dept of Culture. It’s served with snacks on a six-course menu that costs $165 per person, before tax and tip. An optional drink pairing, which is non-alcoholic, is an additional $50 per person. According to owner Ayo Balogun, the restaurant opens on July 16 with a series of reservation-only dinners.

Update: July 10, 2023, 1:30 p.m.: This article was updated to include comments from Cool World partner Julian Brizzi.